Eminent Domain
by ficnic
Summary: AU. Is this kingdom big enough for the both of them?


Disclaimer: I do not own anything ATWT does.

Summary: AU. Is this kingdom big enough for the both of them?

Notes: Written for the Neid livejournal's Lil' Bang event.

* * *

Noah Mayer studiously patted his castle with the utmost care. Not too firmly - just enough to secure the finishing touches on his palatial sand masterpiece. Satisfied with the final product, the four-year-old looked to his babysitter, hoping to impress the woman with his achievement in sand architecture.

Unfortunately, Noah's sitter was seated on a bench far from the sandbox, busy gossiping with one of her colleagues. Noah was loathe to leave his creation behind, lest other children happen along and inadvertently (or otherwise) stomp through his hard work. Scanning the playground, the few other children he spotted seemed busy in their own pursuits, striving for new heights on the swings and new speeds on the slide.

Desperate to show someone - _anyone _- his handiwork, Noah finally decided to chance it. He excitedly ran towards the distant bench, exhuberantly calling his sitter's attention.

"Becky! Becky! Come see what I made!"

The twenty-something looked to Noah distractedly. "In a little bit, Noah. I'm talking with Melanie now. You know it's not polite to interrupt grown-ups."

Noah nodded apologetically. Becky's voice wasn't particularly annoyed or censuring. If anything, the woman sounded bored.

Noah turned to make his way back to the sandbox, the anticipation of impressing someone largely deflated. As he walked back towards his castle, however, what Noah saw caused a jolt of horror to shoot through his heart. Seeing a new arrival approaching _his _sandcastle, Noah took off running, calling out to the stranger in a last-ditch effort to save his masterpiece.

"Get back! You're gonna step on it!"

Confused, the taller boy now standing directly over Noah's castle turned to face him. Suddenly, it became clear. The redhead wasn't _stepping _on Noah's castle at all.

He was _peeing _on it.

As the kid shook off the last drops and re-zipped his pants, the normally reserved Noah forgot everything: His shyness, his manners, and not insignificantly, his size disadvantage in comparison to the older child.

"WHY DID YOU _DO _THAT?" a furious Noah screamed, advancing on the boy.

"Whoa, kid," the older boy responded, holding up his hands in an apparent mea culpa. "I didn't know anybody was still playing here."

"YOU COULDA CHECKED! Now my castle's RUINED!" Realizing the full enormity of his loss - half an hour of work, at least - Noah's anger turned to despair. "I worked'd on that and you SPOILED it!"

Dejectedly, Noah dropped into the sandbox, pulling his knees up to bury his face - and his sobs - in his lap.

"Geez, get a grip!" The older boy twisted a toe in the sand, uncomfortable with the dramatic show of emotion. "Why did you even make a moat if you didn't want someone to fill it?"

Noah's head shot up, his ire raised once more. "You're supposed to fill it with _water_ - not _pee_!" The pre-schooler's bottom lip trembled as he attempted to reign in his sniffles. "Now it's all ruined!"

"You keep saying that. It's not ruined," the redhead insisted.

"Is too!" Noah bit out, defiant.

"You didn't even look at it. If anything, I made it better!"

Noah regarded the older boy with disbelief. Undeterred, the kid continued to argue his point. "Look. The castle's fine. And now bugs and stuff won't crawl up in it. They won't wanna go through the pee."

Noah craned his head around the taller kid's knees to visually inspect his castle. And actually, the kid was right; it _wasn't _ruined. It was entirely intact, just with an additional... feature.

"Really?" Noah finally asked.

"Sure, kid. What are you, like five or six? I'm seven-and-a-half, so I know more than you. Trust me - your castle is safe now from all the creepy crawlies."

Noah's sniffs subsided as he assimilated this new information. Truth be told, he'd only been planning to fill his moat with water. If the big kid hadn't come along, he might never have known how to protect his castle from bugs.

"Thanks," Noah finally said, his spirits lifted. "Do you wanna help me build another castle?"

"Uhh," the other boy stammered. He hadn't been looking for a playmate. He'd just wanted the little guy to stop bawling. Still, he worried that a refusal could risk more waterworks, and he'd already gotten in trouble this week for making some kid cry.

How was it his fault that Sandy Tarrington didn't know she was stupid until he told her?

"All right. What's your name?"

"No-wah," the kid smiled, with such unexpected brightness the older boy was nearly taken aback. "I'm four. And a half, too."

"Hey Noah. I'm Doctor."

Noah's eyebrows shot up at that. "That isn't a name!"

"It's _my _name. Do you want me to play or not?" came the annoyed reply.

"Okay, Doctor," Noah quickly agreed. "Here, you can have the big pail. Make sure you get the wet sand from undermeeth the dry sand so it sticks together."

Doctor snorted. "Okay. I'll get the sand from under_meeth_," he agreed with amusement. Something about Noah being so precise with the construction of the castle - while simultaneously struggling to pronounce his own instructions properly - made the older boy laugh. Maybe the little guy wasn't so bad.

The pair diligently set to work, quickly fashioning two structures to join the existing palace. As they concluded, they were interrupted by the arrival of their respective sitters. Who took in the scene, complete with urine moat, in horror.

"REID OLIVER!" Melanie, the redhead's sitter, didn't even have to ask. "You DO NOT PEE in the sandbox!"

As if talking to an idiot - so, in his normal tone - young Reid replied. "It's a _moat_. And _my name_ is _Doctor_."

"_Reid_!" Melanie stressed the name, successfully drawn into a power struggle by her charge. "Apologize to...," Melanie looked to Becky uncertainly.

"Noah," she supplied helpfully.

"Apologize to Noah _immediately_!"

Reid's expression remained unreadable. Melanie knew it meant inside his overly precocious brain, his wheels were spinning. A suspicion only confirmed when Reid finally spoke.

"I'm sorry, Noah," he began. "I'm sorry for making your castle more awesome. I'm sorry Melanie doesn't know what a moat is. I'm sorry I have the stupidest babysitter on the entire playground-"

"REID! Up, NOW. We're leaving!" Melanie turned to Becky. "Do you see what I deal with? And he's like this every. Single. Day."

"Oh, you poor thing," Becky sympathized. "I don't think I could handle him."

"You couldn't," Reid agreed matter-of-factly.

"No dessert for you tonight, young man," Melanie promised, attempting to hit the kid where she thought it would wound.

Becky looked at the young smartmouth, and stifled a laugh. The boy didn't show an inkling of concern for whatever punishment lay ahead. She was glad _he _wasn't her charge. Watching Noah was a cakewalk compared to what Melanie must go through with this kid.

"Can we come back tomorrow?" Noah pleaded.

Becky softened, realizing her good fortune in watching the compliant, kind boy. "So you had fun? Sure, why not? It's supposed to be nice outside again tomorrow."

Noah's face lit up. "Thank you!" The youngster then cast hopeful eyes at Melanie. "Can you bring Doctor to play tomorrow?"

"His name is _Reid_," Melanie answered, trying to retain her aggravation with the seven-year-old. She didn't stand a chance, though, when her eyes met the striking baby blues of the sweet preschooler. "Oh all right," Melanie relented, turning her attention to Becky. "Anyway, it would take me weeks to find anyone else who actually _wants _to play with him."

"Wait," Reid interjected. "Who said I even _want _to come back tomor-"

Reid's objection was halted by the four-year-old's arms suddenly wrapped around him. He froze, not knowing what to do in the unfamiliar situation. People didn't hug Reid; it just wasn't _done_. In the end, he simply waited the kid out.

"See you tomorrow Doctor!" Noah promised happily. He waved as Becky took his other hand, and they turned to leave.

"You can call me Reid."

Noah turned his head back quickly. "Mkay, bye Reid!"

Reid nodded, his only further acknowledgement of the younger boy. The kid wasn't so bad for a little guy, really. Once he'd stopped snivelling, he'd actually turned out to be kinda cool.

And smart, which Reid found an exceedingly rare quality in other humans, let alone other kids.

"So it's Reid, now, is it?" Melanie questioned bemusedly as they, too, began their journey home.

"For_ him_. Not you." _As if_, Reid thought condescendingly.

"Fine. But what happens if you don't grow up to be a doctor?"

Reid stopped dead, and looked at the woman as if she'd grown a third eyeball. And then, a fourth. Finally, he shook his head incredulously, and gave what he felt was the obvious answer.

"Impossible."


End file.
